I know a lot of folks who are hesitant to upgrade.... I admit, I've been burned by installing updates as soon as they come out... but hey, that's why I'm an early adopter. The latest Mac update looks to include several important bug fixes and enhancements. Here's a few that tip the scale in favor of installing.

• Addresses an issue with stuttering video and audio playback in certain USB devices.
• Fixes an issue in which certain attached hard drives may not show up in the Finder.
• Includes additional RAW image support for several cameras.
• Improves 802.1X behavior and reliability.
• Improves reliability when using Time Capsule.
• Fixes reliability issues with authenticated RSS feeds.
• Addresses compatibility issues with Aperture 2.
• Addresses reliability issues when performing a full restore from a Time Machine backup.

You can access the update through your Apple Menu.... I’ve been running it for several days and all seems happy. Additionally, several new pro digital cameras were added for Raw support.

Join Apple Certified Trainer Mason Dixon as he shows you how to adjust text in Motion, in this first part of his text in Motion series.



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For the past few years Apple has been pushing Motion as a tool that should be in every editor’s toolbox. The problem has been, not every editor has had the time or patience to learn Motion. In Final Cut Pro 6, Apple recognized this and has integrated Motion templates directly inside of FCP.

To launch a Motion template in Final Cut Pro you have three options:

1. Choose the Effects tab in the Browser > Master Templates.
2. Choose the Generators pulldown in the Viewer > Master Templates.
3. Choose the Sequence menu > Add Master Template.
   

Choose the template that you want and load it into the Viewer. Once the template has been loaded in the Viewer, clicking on the controls tab will let you change various parameters of the template. There is only one catch:

Not every parameter of a template is editable in Final Cut Pro. Text entry, size, tracking and populating drop zones with footage are the only parameters you can adjust inside Final Cut Pro.

If you need to edit a template to, for example, change the text color, or swap out a background, you need to edit the template in Motion. Here’s how.

1. Edit the template from the Viewer into your sequence.
2. Right-click on the template and notice at the top of the contextual menu you have two options: Open in Editor and Open Copy in Editor. Since the template is a prebuilt one from Apple, you can’t save over it (it’s locked) so you need to choose Open Copy in Editor.
3. Make your changes in Motion and save the file. Your changes will update in FCP.

Like this tip? It comes from the book
Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.

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Sometimes third-party plug-ins fill obvious holes... this is truly the case here. Wouldn't it make sense to be able to quickly send photos from Apple Aperture to Final Cut Pro? You'd think that sort of thing would be built right in (its not). Fortunately the fine folks over at Connected Flow over an elegant (and free) solution.

“The Aperture to Final Cut Pro plugin lets you take your images stored in Apple's professional photo management application and send them directly to a video sequence in Final Cut Pro. From within Aperture, you can select photos, set their order and duration and select transitions between frames.”

The Aperture to Final Cut Pro plugin is a free download and is provided on an as-is basis.

Join Apple Certified Trainer Mason Dixon as he shows you how to create and adjust text in Motion, in this first part of his text in Motion series.



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Timecode burn-in is used to assist in referencing back to parts of show. Typically this has been used on VHS tapes for producers so they can comment on shows, etc. These days it’s more common to use QuickTime files and DVDs for this type of work. Since you’re going to have to encode the video anyway (most likely using Compressor), why not add timecode burn-in at the same time?

Fortunately, a great new feature in Compressor 3 allows you to do this.

1. Inside Final Cut Pro select the sequence you want to export.
2. Choose File > Export > Using Compressor.
3. Inside Compressor select the setting you’d like to apply to the file. With the setting active, select the Inspector window and click the Filters tab.
4. Choose Timecode Generator.
5. Change the settings for the Timecode Generator as you see fit.
6. Apply the setting to the clip in the Batch window.
7. Submit the job.
   

Note: If you’re trying to choose the Timecode Generator for an Apple preset you’ll notice there are no filters in the Filters tab of the Inspector. To be able to add the Timecode Generator to one of the Apple presets, you’ll have to duplicate it first (then it becomes a custom preset).



Like this tip? It comes from the book
Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.

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One of my favorite blogs to read is Scott Simmons' Editblog. He has a great post about some of the changes happening to the Red Camera and what it means to editors. It sounds like major changes are underway and any editors who plan to work with the footage need to catch up on the issues

”As a post guy I don’t follow all the RED camera firmware build drama but this one is worth noting. We had a RED camera owner in the shop the other day and he mention that the new camera firmware build was going to be a big deal and the RED team was going to have to rewrite RedCine and RedAlert and the codecs and everything else. As a post guy that made me take notice! I checked the Red User site and there is a post from Jim Jannard the RED ****** and he mentions just that.”

Be sure to see the full post here.

Join Apple Certified Trainer Chris Phrommayon as he shows you how to make custom presets and use easy set-ups in Final Cut Pro.



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Thanks to Phil Hodgetts for this guest tip.

What people tend to forget is that you are sending YouTube a master for them to compress; therefore, send the highest quality you can, that fits within their limitations. YouTube.com is well know for being the busiest video-sharing site, but unfortunately, YouTube uses the much older Sorenson Spark codec for their video encoding. This was the “improved” video format for Flash 7 but is based on the very old H.263 video conferencing codec. Even when new, this was an old, inefficient codec.

Many people send YouTube an already compressed video, and are disappointed when they see the quality that results on YouTube. That’s because most of the information was first thrown away by the encode before upload, so there was little quality left to be encoded to Flash 7.

The goal is to give YouTube a master that they can use for encoding:

• YouTube has two limitations: no more than 10 minutes per video and no larger than 100 MB per video.
  • YouTube converts everything that is uploaded to Flash 7 video at 320X240 (although they've started to also do 640X480 in H.264).
  • Remember the good old days of VHS distribution? You wouldn’t give the duplicator a VHS copy of the show to duplicate. No, you’d give them the highest quality master you could. Therefore, to get the best quality from YouTube, give them a high quality “master” that is close to 99 MB.
  

Here’s how to pull this off:

1. Use QuickTime Pro or Final Cut Pro to exports to .mp4 with H.264 video.
   2 Export as MPEG-4 with H.264 and set the size to 320X240. There is no point providing more resolution than YouTube’s finished size. By going direct to that size means that you can devote bandwidth to making that master look great, instead of sending excess size that will be scaled down. The bonus is that you get to control de-interlacing and scaling.
2. From here on there are two choices: calculate the maximum data rate that will keep the file under 99 MB, or use some general purpose settings.
   

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Like this tip? It comes from the book
Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.

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A trainer that I respect a great deal has released a free tutorial. Mark Spencer offers a free tutorial on Motion Control effects with photos:

“Animating photos is a staple effect pioneered by celebrated documentarian Ken Burns. In this tutorial Mark Spencer shows you why you should be doing these types of effects in Motion rather than Final Cut Pro.”

Click here to watch Mark's tutorial

Join Apple Certified Trainer Richard Harrington as he shows you how to capture video in Final Cut Pro once your clips have been logged.



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One of the first bands I fell in love with during college was Nine Inch Nails (actually back then, it wasn't a band). The seminal record, Pretty Hate Machine was a mash-up of Prince Samples and Orchestral Scores from Stephen King and Clive Barker films (along with many other sounds). Since then Trent Reznor has continued to evolve/

Yesreday they‘ve releases The Slip—a new 10-track album—for free on http://theslip.nin.com/. The record is available in virtually every flavor of DRM-free digital format, all you need to do is give them your email address. The album will eventually be available in traditional formats as well. This move mirrors those of both Radiohead and Prince.

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I came home tonight and found a copy of Apple Pro Training Series: Aperture 2 sitting on my door step. I'm quite happy with how the book came out (especially since we were able to work in all of the new features in the 2.1 release). The book should start shipping within days... you can order it here. In the mean time (here are some features you won't want to miss).

Customize the Default Adjustment Set
Specify exactly which adjustments you want to appear by default in the Adjustments Inspector/HUD. Two new commands — Add to Default Set and Remove from Default Set — are accessible in the Action pop-up menu for each adjustment in order to configure these settings.

Keyboard support in Adjustment Panels
Make precise image adjustments using the arrow keys on your keyboard to drive the various sliders in the Adjustments Inspector/HUD. To activate keyboard control, click once in the numeric field of an adjustment control (such as Exposure). You can then use the arrow keys to increase or decrease values. Hold down the Option key when using the arrow keys for even more precise adjustment. You can use Tab to move to the next adjustment control (and Shift-Tab to move to a previous control).

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It’s possible to trim on the fly. This way you can listen for an audio edit or look for a particular visual cue. Just make sure the Dynamic trimmimg checkbox is marked.

1. Enter Trim Edit mode, and press the space bar to cycle your trim. The sequence will play around your edit point and loop. The pre-roll and post-roll are set in the Editing tab of User Preferences.
2. When you reach the desired edit point, press the I key to move your In point.
3. Press the up or down arrow to move through the Timeline to your next edit point.

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Like this tip? It comes from the book
Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.

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Caught a great presentation from Steve Martin at NAB. It's all about using Production Premium with other NLEs like Final Cut Pro. Steve is a popular trainer (in fact one of Apple's main instructors). This one is helpful...



If you want more free classes... visit the Adobe TV site.